First fill!

Yesterday afternoon I finally made it in for my first fill. The wait this time around wasn't too bad, but I'd been running late, so instead of dropping the kids off at the childcare place, I had to bring them with me. Whee.

My eldest is 6-and-a-half, and is an attention hound. She's also very high energy. I discussed with her before getting there that I really needed her to set a good example for her sister (who's just shy of 3), and went over the general guidelines of how one acts in a doctor's office. She brought a book and I thought all would go OK, at least as long as the wait wasn't too long.

Of course, immediately she's filling up the little water cups that I had previously said she was to leave alone. She's playing in the decorative fountain, climbing all over the furniture, and trying to get her sister to run around the table in the middle of the room.

I try, with mixed results, to keep her under control. The thing is, if she sees her sister get up and walk around (as toddlers are prone to do), she thinks SHE needs to get up and play too. She's still (I think intentionally) unclear on the concept that what a little one does is not neccessarily appropriate for an older child. The funny thing is that my toddler - who is has been ultra-stubborn as of late - was actually trying to behave, even with her older sister attempting to instigate trouble.


Anyways..... the fill. Dr. Ganta checked my incision site, said it had healed quite well. He had me lay down on the table and lift my legs, straight. I guess that made the port easier to feel. My port is a couple of inches above my navel, just to the left a touch. He finds the port, and numbs it with some local anesthetic. Then he gets the big needle ready and asks which one of us this shot is for. He's not a joker, so I got a big kick out of this. He's the father of two young girls himself, so I think the dad in him was coming out. Nice! He had an easy way with them, he could probably make the shift to pediatrics if he was ever so inclined. :)

Of course, my eldest's eyes got really big for a moment as she contemplated that huge needle, and then, of course, she threw me under the bus. *laugh*

"Mommy wants the shot! Mommy wants the shot!!!"

He has me lift my legs again and does the fill. It feels very odd, but doesn't hurt. He pulls out what's in it, about 2cc, and then fills to 4cc. He is pretty conservative, so I didn't expect any more than that.

I'm on liquids again for at least 24 hours, but I'll probably only make 26 or so, as I'll be out all of this afternoon and evening.

I weighed Thursday morning as my regular weigh-in at 210. Yesterday afternoon at the appointment I weighed in at 214.5

I'm taking my Thursday weigh-in, thank you very much - and ignoring the other one. And avoiding late afternoon appointments where they weigh me in jeans, shoes, and when I have to pee. LOL!

Hitting 210 puts me at only 2 pounds away from being halfway to goal.

I'm going to be extra vigilant this week - and perhaps even exercise (I have been REALLY bad about it recently), and see if I can drop two pounds to bring me to the halfway point!!

Back home again

I got back on Thursday evening with the kids from our road travels. Obviously, I had to reschedule my fill appointment that was originally on Wednesday. Now, it's scheduled for July 30.

The trip was a mixed bag, diet-wise. I did manage to keep the surgery on the down-low. It wasn't hard, though, because I can apparently eat just about anything I want to eat. Ack!!

First night there, my MIL orders chinese takeout. I manage OK with a small bowl and some chicken with broccoli and egg foo yung. The chicken was probably the better choice, but egg foo yung is one of my favorites, and it's soft enough that I wasn't too worried. No rice, egg rolls, or crab rangoons. I was still hungry after my little bowl, but I stayed in line.

I eat the middle out of a chicken breast sandwich the next day at the aquarium, and nibble on my youngest's chicken strips a bit. I go for a protein bar while the kids eat ice cream and drink an Atkins shake on the train ride back to the suburb of Chicago where we're staying. All good.

That night starts my downward spiral, though. My husband comes in that night, hungry and cranky, and we end up at a local Indian buffet. Still, I do all right, but I do attempt some naan and it goes down fine. Some of the selections are pretty spicy, and I do end up sipping water here and there. I'm pretty full feeling by the end of the meal, and I definitely ate upwards of a couple of cups of food.

Ups and downs over the rest of the trip. Pizza (but only the toppings), fried chicken without the skin, and ice cream (a few times). *sigh*

The lesson I take from this is that travelling during bandster hell was a BAD idea. I tried to keep myself sane, but it was really hard and got more difficult over the 13 days of travel. And like ever when I diet, when I fall off the wagon, climbing back on is not proving easy. Especially as I'm experiencing no restriction at all anymore.

I guess one good thing about having no spending money at all right now is that I won't be tempted by going out to eat any more, and the good stuff I bought at the store yesterday is what I've got to work with for the next several days. But I'm hungry enough that it's going to be hard work to moderate my portions even with the good food choices available.

My mom's scale put me at 2.2 pounds down before leaving Texas, and at 1 pound up when I got back. My scale is being fritzy again, so I'll try again to get it working by the 29th or just go weigh at the gym.

Welcome to everyone who added me while I was gone! I came back to find I had a whole bunch of new followers -- YAY!!

Now to go catch up on all your recent posts too, and avoid the call of the kitchen. ;)

Guess I'm healed... Good, right??

Inside and out, I think I'm healed up pretty well by now.

The incision finally closed up all the way, so that's good! Now if the weather will clear up, I can take my girls swimming finally. I have two tankinis that I bought last year without trying them on that did not fit at ALL then, but do now, so that'll be great to have something cute to wear instead of my tired old suit that I wore through two pregnancies and then some. :D

Inside, it seems that my stomach is healed up too, because I am HUNGRY. And 1 to 1.5 cups is NOT doing it anymore. I ate way too much yesterday. Nothing I shouldn't have eaten, but way more than I should have. This does not bode well for leaving on a road trip in a couple of days. I have to think of some things to snack on that will help tide me over so I don't cave in to road food temptation. I do OK when I'm at home, I don't keep snack food in the house at all. But on the road, and while we're in Chicago?? I hope I can do this. I don't want to go in for my fill and have completely sabotaged myself out of the 9 pounds I've lost since surgery.

Speaking of that, it seems that I'm going to have to call and reschedule that first fill visit. I just don't see how I'm going to be able to get myself back to Texas in time for a visit on July 21, when I won't be leaving there until July 19. I could do it, but I don't want to put myself or the kids through a super-intense return drive. I don't know.... maybe I'll wait and see how things go by the 19th. I am SO ready to try to get some restriction!!!

Hey, my scale is working again!

For now, at least...

This seems to be a running issue in my house, heh!

Our TV has a problem with the power switch inside, so it doesn't always turn back on once it's been turned off. We'd given up on it, and then my husband randomly decided to give it a shot one day, and it came on. So, we're not turning it off. We just leave it on the DVD screensaver.

Anyways, my scale was having a similar issue. It stopped working, so I replaced the batteries and it worked for about a week. Then it stopped again and wouldn't work even with me trying a variety of things. So I was going to toss it, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. I thought I'd give it one more try this morning before it hit the garbage, as our swimming plans for the day might be shot by unexpected rain (thus keeping me from weighing in at the gym). And lo, it worked!

So, I weighed in at 215.

I admit, I am kind of disappointed. That's only 2 pounds per week, and I've been at 1000 calories or less per day since starting pureed/mushies.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's actually pretty darn good, especially considering that my metabolism is still trucking right along in diet mode because I've been doing the low-carb, low-calorie thing for months now. I'm just going to have to be realistic.

This is why I don't like weighing in any more frequently than once a week. I know I get my expectations warped, so I do better when I stay off. ;)

It is SO time to get back to the gym. I had every intention of today being the day, but the rain is thwarting those plans. I could go anyways, but then my kids would completely flip out because I told them we'd go swimming while we were there. Here's hoping it clears up sometime today so we can give it a shot! This is Texas and summer --- there is every possibility that by afternoon it will be like the rain never happened!! heheheh

Roar!!

Oh yeah, I definitely cannot go too long without eating.

I turned into a raging B!#@^ today when the kids and I unexpectedly ended up meeting up with friends for a movie instead of making a quick run to the grocery store and the bank. The plans were there, but I had totally forgotten about them until my friend called me to ask if we were still going.

So..... breakfast (a protein shake because I needed to go grocery shopping) was at 9, and I didn't get back home until 2. The kids had popcorn at the movies, but they needed lunch too. So, it was after 3 by the time I sat down to my lunch, and I'm pretty sure my stomach was attempting to eat itself by that point. ouch.

I had to banish the kids to their room to play so I could eat in peace and get my grouchiness under control.

Yep, definitely gotta eat regularly. I had an Atkins shake in my purse, and I so should have used that to tide me through. *sigh*

Doing better with the social thing

Two parties this weekend, and I managed to keep things sane, yay!!

The one on Saturday was out in the country, but the food was mostly inside, and the people were mostly outside. I ate some scrambled egg whites in the car on the way there, and then stayed outside other than bathroom breaks, so it wasn't a big issue. I should have brought some more water, though, as I ran out and they're on well water, so I wasn't really able to refill. I was getting pretty hungry by the time we finally left, though.

I was even better prepared for the one yesterday. I ate lunch before leaving, and then brought some greek yogurt with me. I also picked up some pre-made protein drinks, but didn't have to dip into those. I ate the yogurt about an hour or so after getting there, as the spread of food was getting VERY tempting. Then I went with another couple of parents that were there to walk all the kids (who were getting wild) down the greenbelt to the playground. It was probably about a mile walk, but leisurely - to keep pace with the 2-year-old. Not what you'd call serious exercise by any means, but definitely better than continuing to be tempted by the food. When we got back, a movie was playing, and I found a spot to watch the movie and chat with a friend a bit.

The key for now, it seems, is going to be bringing something that I can eat to both occupy my hands/mouth, and to take the edge off my hunger/appetite. And if I can engage myself in a non-food room, that will also make things easier. No socializing in the food room. *laugh*

After I'm back on solids instead of mushies, I can probably find foods at many events that I can nibble on without trouble. There were grilled chicken breasts and baked chicken legs at the party yesterday. A tomato/basil/mozzarella tray and plenty of fruit too. So long as I can avoid the chips and dips and desserts, I'll be all good. Eventually, having restriction will hopefully help with that too, allowing me to have a bite or two of some of the more decadent items on occasion without being able to over-indulge. :)

I'm going to be weighing in on the Christmas challenge a week late. Still no scale, and I won't be going to the gym until tomorrow. I am going to weigh tomorrow, though.... so we'll see what progress has been made, if any, over the last 2 weeks!

My kids are awesome when it comes to food

So my chicken masala experiment was a qualified success. While not as tasty as the full-on version made with a ton of whole-milk yogurt, butter and heavy cream, it was pretty tasty.

Chicken thighs
red onion
big can of diced tomatoes
about 1 tbls of garam masala
about 1 tbls of tikka sauce
about 1/4 c of plain yogurt (lowfat in this case)
chicken broth/stock
cooked in crockpot, topped in bowl with about 1 tbls of light sour cream

My older girl (6) ate one bowl of what turned out to be a soup as-is, and my 2 year old ate a bit of it. Both of them wanted to try my pureed version. My 2 year old had two bowls of this, and my 6 year old had a bowl of it in addition to her non-pureed bowl. Nice!!

I love that my kids don't even blink when I serve them up something new, no matter what color or texture it has. The little one sometimes approaches the new dishes more slowly, but my older one is eager to taste anything. They both adore vegetables and have always had whole grains, lean meats, fish, and tofu, so those ingredients are nothing new.

The 6 year old is really great about limiting her portions on her own, but the 2 year old seems either be on one end of the spectrum or the other -- she's either eating only a tiny bit of her meal for days on end, or wolfing it down -- and it doesn't matter what she's eating. I think she'd be better grazing, so maybe I'll try that this fall when her sister starts school. I know a lot of toddlers prefer the grazing method as their tummies are so tiny. She's my sugar lover too, I know we'll have to watch that as she gets older. Her sister loves treats as well, but usually only has a few bites before becoming disinterested. (well, unless it's ice cream - we're all fiends for the creamy frozen confections)

I just am so pleased and proud of them that they have such adventurous palates. I hope it can only bode well for them and their future abilities to make good choices.

Christmas Challenge

Oh, and I almost forgot!

I joined up on a long-duration challenge on LBT.

Challenge starts today and ends on Christmas.

I'm shooting for 40# down, which will put me at 179 - my lowest weight in over a decade!

I got close the last time I lost weight, down to 183, but I haven't been under 180 in a VERY long time.

Now, I guess I technically started last week, because I don't have a scale to weigh on today, but I'll start using the gym scale for my first weigh-ins on the challenge.

I hope 40# isn't too ambitious, but I'm willing to give it a good shot!!

Port site sore

So far, my port area hadn't been sore at all, but for some reason today it's a bit tender.

I obviously don't have a port incision, my port is located about 2-3 inches above my navel, slightly to the left. I couldn't feel it under my skin at first, but have been able to the last few days as the rest of the swelling has gone.

Today, though, it's definitely a bit tender. Hopefully that doesn't mean anything, just another part of healing.

Dinner has been in the crock pot all day, a healthy chicken masala experiment. It smells wonderful, and hopefully it will be tasty all pureed. hehehe
I hope I can wait until the rice is done cooking for the kiddos, my stomach is getting rumbly!